If the rumored Cliff Lee for Justin Uptondeal goes through be prepared for an incredible amount of brotherly love jokes all summer long in the NL East. MLBrumorsarecirculating that the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies are in talks that would send Cliff Lee and cash to the Diamondback in exchange for the slugging right fielder Justin Upton.

Interestingly enough, the Atlanta Bravessigned Justin’s brother B.J. Upton on December 1st of 2012 to a five year $75.25 million deal. How cool would it be to see a pair of brother going at in divisional battles all summer long. Furthermore, this would spark the constant debate of who is better and who is doing more to help their team win. Well, one thing is for certain Justin is definitely the cheapest option for years to come. The Diamondbacks are scheduled to pay Upton $38.5 million over the next three seasons. With B.J. getting the money he got and Josh Hamilton expecting much more, Justin is definitely valuable in this particular offseason.

Only 24 years old Justin had a down season in 2012, stealing a mere 17 bases and homering 17 times. However, Upton lit up the stat sheet in 2011 with his best MLB season yet. 31 home runs, 21 stolen bases, an a .289 batting average awarded him an all star bid and fourth place in NL MVP voting.

Now, the Cliff Lee deal is said to still be in preliminary discussions but, it does not make that much sense on the Diamondbacks part. Lee is set to make $25 million or more in each of the next four seasons, while Upton will be making $9.75, $14.25, $14.5 million in the next three seasons. Something does not add up. However, I will root for the move just to see brothers go at it for at least the next three seasons.

The difference between Matt Carpenter the leadoff man and Carpenter in any other spot in the order has been huge this season. As they enter the stretch run, St. Louis should keep batting him leadoff. Read More